


Rest for the weary

by theskiesoftime



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: And is still trying to figure out relationships, Essek has earned back the trust of the Mighty Nein, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of the rest of the Mighty Nein - Freeform, set two years after the Mighty Nein retire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:40:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27201244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theskiesoftime/pseuds/theskiesoftime
Summary: Two years after the Mighty Nein have semi-retired from adventuring, Essek receives an urgent sending from Caduceus about a heavily injured Caleb. After dropping everything and teleporting to Nicodranas, he finds not the scene of his nightmares, but a new and welcome feeling of contentment.(Or: Essek and Caleb get to nap together and it’s nice)
Relationships: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast, Nott | Veth Brenatto & Caleb Widogast
Comments: 11
Kudos: 297





	Rest for the weary

A small rush of wind scattered seagulls into the air, cawing and squawking as Essek landed amongst them and the long row of houses. The empty streets of Nicodranas glittered as the haze dissipated under the first bright rays of sunlight that stretched from the horizon, just enough to sting his eyes. Essek’s sharp footfalls echoed against the damp cobblestone as he charged down the street, squinting against the light at the front door of the last house in the row.

When he reached it, he stopped, fist raised to pound against the wood. The motion came with the worrying thought - what would he find on the other side of that door?

With a deep breath that did little to calm his nerves, he rapped his knuckles against the door three times, before taking a step back and composing himself. He straightened his mantle, set his shoulders, and schooled his expression. Useless habits, as more than likely anyone who he expected to be behind that door would see straight through him.

The door opened with the squeak of briny hinges, revealing one Veth Brenatto, clad in bright yellow overalls with her crossbow notched and ready in her hands. 

“Whadda you want?” she demanded. The point of the crossbow rose toward his face before dropping to his feet. “Oh, it’s just you.”

The look she gave him was something between a glare and pity, proving his previous thought correct. “Why aren’t you floating?”

“It is nice to see you too, Veth,” Essek replied. “I was told Caleb was here. May I see him?”

She stared him down for a few moments longer, before stepping aside and letting him into her home. The light of the front room was dim, a welcome change for Essek’s eyes. The walls were covered in paintings, undoubtable done by Jester, evident with a quick glance by the skill and bright colors. A few child’s toys littered the floor and books covered most of the table surfaces. From one room he could smell breakfast meats cooking and from the other a faint scent of sulfuric chemicals.

He’d been here once before and again struck by contrast to his own abode. In his mother’s house, everything in it was ordered and meant to live up to certain appearances. His tower followed suit. There was once a time that he preferred it that way, but recently he’d begun to enjoy the chaos the Mighty Nein left after their ever more frequent visits.

He hung his mantle on a hook, next to a few halfing sized cloaks and a familiar purple coat that looked freshly scrubbed and mended.

“He’s sleeping right now,” Veth said when he turned back to her. She stood with her arms crossed and an air of defiance, but as Essek looked more closely, he could see how her shoulders sagged with exhaustion. He nearly offered for Veth to sit down, but that felt rude as this was her house. “Caduceus was able to heal him, mostly, but… he had a rough night.”

Essek nodded. While he appreciated the confirmation that Caleb was still alive, this was not what he wanted to hear. It did little to lessen the tight and twisting knot in his stomach, a sensation he’d grown quite familiar with in the last couple of years. The Mighty Nein had introduced him to a plethora of new feelings and this was not one he particularly liked to experience.

“Can you tell me what happened? All I was told by Caduceus was that Caleb was hurt quite badly.”  _ And that he asked for me. _

Veth shifted uncomfortably. “One of Caleb’s students hadn’t shown up for a couple of days. A bright girl who’d never missed a class in her life. On the third day he asked me to come with him to Rexentrum and said he thought she might have run into a couple of the former scourgers who went rouge when the Assembly fell. We grabbed Caduceus too, ‘cause we thought there might be a fight, but not bad enough where we would need the whole team. It was only a couple of scourgers, but…”

Veth’s hands fidgeted with her crossbow, alternating between loading and unloading the bolts and fiddling with the trigger. It made Essek want to step back, but he held his ground.

“We got separated, see, because of course Ikithon’s tower had secret tunnels underneath it, tunnels that led to a prison. We found the girl locked in a cell. I had to unlock it and Cad had to heal her, so when we heard a weird noise in the next room, Caleb went to investigate.

“The girl was fine once Cad healed her up, so we went to check on Caleb and well… it was bad. Caleb must have fought back hard, cause all the scourgers fell with single hits from me and Caduceus, but they got him good too. They managed to poison him and even with Cad’s greater restoration it really fucked him up.

“But he’s going to be fine!” Veth added quickly, and it was only now that Essek realised his growing horror must be showing on his face. “Caduceus went back to the Grove to get some weird mushroom-y things that should help. And Fjord, Jester, Beau, and Yasha are on their way back from Port Damili on the boat.”

That, if nothing else, calmed Essek’s fears the most. If it were truly dire, he knew Jester would have messaged him for a ride back, even if that meant abandoning the boat at sea. Still, Essek always believed that seeing was believing.

“Are you sure I cannot see him now? Just for a moment?”

“No!” Veth said, jumping from solemn to exclamatory in record time. “Didn’t I just tell you why he needs rest? He doesn’t need his magical boyfriend around riling him up!”

Essek blinked in surprise, both at the forcefulness and the words. Sure, he and Caleb had been spending more time together, on weekends and when most of the Nein were gone. Sure, they had been getting closer, but had Caleb said…

Veth froze in front of him, head turning sharply toward the hallway like Frumpkin hearing a strange noise. Then she brought out a piece of wire and stage whispered into her hands, “You shouldn’t be using magic! Go back to sleep and do  _ not  _ reply to this message.”

There was a pause, before Veth sighed. “Oh all right.”

She stood up with a huff and started down the hallway, beckoning him to follow. “This way, he’s apparently been awake for a while now and says he’s bored.”

At that, she raised her eyebrows suggestively and Essek felt like he had whiplash from all her changes in tone. It almost distracted him from the strange feelings of trepidation that raced around the knot in his stomach.

Caleb’s room was at the end of the hallway, next to the door that Essek knew led to the bookshop/apothecary/magic school Caleb and the Brenattos ran. It also held a teleportation circle that was regularly used by the Nein to visit Caduceus (and more recently Essek).

Veth opened the door to the bedroom, effectively breaking Essek’s train of thought.

In the large four poster bed, sat Caleb, propped up by a small mountain of pillows, Frumpkin curled at his side. He looked far better than Essek had been expecting; the only visible evidence of damage was a few faded cuts and bruises on his face. His eyes were bloodshot with darker than usual shadows underneath when he looked up at them. But still Caleb smiled, waving a bit awkwardly as he twisted a copper wire between his fingers.

“Essek,” Caleb greeted him with a nod. One word was enough proof for the tension to roll off of Essek’s shoulders and he couldn’t help but let out an audible sigh of relief. Caleb was okay, he really would be fine.

Of course, then Caleb tried to sit up and hissed as the movement tugged at unseen wounds. Essek took a step forward, reaching out to do what he didn’t know, but Veth, quick as ever, beat him to Caleb’s side.

“Don’t move like that, you’ll hurt yourself!” Veth said, helping Caleb sit up and fussing over him, while Caleb tried to gently fend her off.

“I am fine, Veth, I am fine.” He took her hand to get her to stop. “You have been taking great care of me.” Glancing at Veth’s tired eyes, he frowned, then looked to Essek and added, “Such good care in fact, perhaps you should go rest. Essek can sit with me for awhile.”

It took Essek a second of Caleb’s bright blue eyes staring at him before he got the message. “I can,” he assured Veth. “If anything happens, I will come get you immediately. You have my word.”

Perhaps it was the promise, or Caleb’s gentle look, but after glancing between them with scrutinizing eyes, Veth let her shoulders relax and agreed.

Once she was gone, Essek sat down on the bed by Caleb’s feet. “How are you feeling?” Essek asked. He had never quite figured out how these kinds of conversations worked, but this was as good of a start as any.

“Honestly?”

“I would prefer that, yes.”

“I feel like I have been chewed up and spit out by a rabid moorbounder,” Caleb said, “And I am exhausted. So, though I am very happy to see you, forgive me if I fall asleep on you.”

“Do not mind me. I am only here to make sure you are on the mend.”

“Well, I have good friends who ensure that,” Caleb said, looking down at the wire in his hands.

“Yes, you do.” Essek agreed, now missing the mantle that could have hidden his own fidgeting hands. 

In recent months, Essek had spent a lot of time with Caleb in silence, though it was usually while studying or reading together. Those were comfortable, companionable silences. This one was edging back toward the awkwardness of when Essek had first met the Nein. It was like he wasn’t supposed to be here, he was interrupting something special between this group of friends. 

But Caleb had asked for him, and Caduceus had called him, and Veth had let him in. Perhaps he had just enough legitimacy in being that he could ask one of his biting questions.

“Why did you do it?”

Caleb looked at him in confusion. “Did Veth not say? I had to help my student.”

“Yes,” Essek agreed quickly, “But why did you go down the tunnel? Why not wait for Veth and Caduceus? You found your student, the reason you were there. You could have left.”  _ You could have avoided this, avoided worrying your friends. _

Caleb began to rub his arms, pulling his sleeves down past his wrists. And Essek began to understand.

“I thought there may be others there,” Caleb said eventually, after Frumpkin had climbed into his lab. His voice was strong, but he did not meet Essek’s eyes. “Other children. And I cannot let that happen again. You know that.”

A strand of hair dangled in front of Caleb’s face as he stared down at his fidgeting hands. Essek hesitated, debating rules and propriety and his place here, before reaching out and tucking it back behind Caleb’s ear. The slightly too warm heat of Caleb’s skin that briefly touched his fingertips jumped straight to his heart as Caleb locked eyes with him.

“I do know that,” he said simply. It was one of the things he loved most about Caleb, his insistence and drive to make the world into something better. To make up for his wrongs in a way that forced Essek to contemplate his own. To make Essek want to try to do the same.

He let his hand fall toward his side, fearing he had overstepped, but Caleb grabbed it and squeezed it. Essek squeezed back.

There was another long silence, this one, far less awkward, but not less poignant. Then Caleb asked, “Can elves sleep?”

Essek’s brow furrowed. “Yes. We don’t need to, of course, and once one learns to meditate, it is seen as a waste of time. I… do not actually remember the last time that I have slept.”

“Would you…” Caleb rubbed his arm with his free hand. “Would you rest with me? I do not mean anything more by it and only if you are comfortable, of course. I just… would like to have you close to me.”

That was not what he had been expecting. And while Essek had never felt any of that physical attraction everyone else seemed to have (except maybe Caduceus, he’d noticed), he could not honestly say he had not thought wistfully of holding Caleb in his arms.

He hesitated, his mind swirling with memories of darkened boat decks, of magical laboratories, of warm Xhorhaus fireplaces. Then, like gazing into the multitude of timelines his spells drew from, thoughts and dreams and hopes flashed through Essek’s mind, all of them involving Caleb. All of them originating from now.

Less than gracefully, Essek climbed into bed next to Caleb. He laid his head between Caleb’s neck and shoulder. With great care, he placed his arm around Caleb's torso, mindful of the bandages beneath his shirt. 

“Is this all right?” he asked. “I do not want to irritate any injuries.”

Caleb kissed the top of Essek’s head before laying his own head there. “It is perfect.”

Within minutes, Caleb had fallen asleep, but Essek had truly forgotten how to do the same. Frumpkin wandered his way between them, curling to sleep like his master. Essek contented himself with running his hand through the cat’s fur and watching Caleb’s chest rise and fall. He began to match the slow breathing, settling into this newfound intimacy. His eyes drooped closed, mind now lingering on the scent of inks and campfires and the warmth that was Caleb. Thoughts melted together and away as he joined Caleb in sleep.

…

Sun streamed brightly through the cracks in the curtains when Caleb awoke exactly four hours and twenty-six minutes later. With a deep breath, he expected pain along his abdomen, but it was only dull discomfort. 

He didn’t exactly feel refreshed from his nap, he imagined within the hour he’d be back asleep, but he did feel content.

Essek’s arm was still around his waist, almost protectively. His forehead was pressed against Caleb’s shoulder, close enough where he could hear the softest of whistling as Essek breathed through his nose. Still fast asleep, a sight Caleb imagined few had ever seen. The hand that was not around Caleb’s waist was less than an inch from Caleb’s own. With a soft smile, Caleb re-intertwined their fingers.

The door creaked open and Veth’s head popped into the room. It was a testament to how comfortable Caleb was, where he didn’t even flinch or try to hide his smile at Veth’s accusing eyebrows.

Instead, once she crossed the room and set a steaming mug of what he assumed was Caduecus’s tea on the bedside table, he grabbed her hand as well.

Veth eyed Essek suspiciously. “I didn’t know he could do that.”

Caleb half shrugged (which did pull at one of his cuts, so he wouldn’t do that again). “I was not sure if he could either. I have only seen him trance a couple of times while on the road with us.”

“He looks… sweet like that,” Veth said, her voice softening. “Almost adorable. I didn’t know he could do that either.”

“He can when he wants too,” Caleb said, thinking of a sunny beach and freshly painted parasol in Essek’s hand. 

“Do you love him?” Veth asked. There was no joke or teasing in her voice, yet Caleb could not stop himself from blushing.

“Ja,” he said simply. “I think I do.”

There were so many little moments, in those early days, where Caleb thought he saw a glimpse of what could be. Not unlike looking into the beacon, there were threads to be pulled and others to intertwine. 

There was that day in Essek’s lab, finishing the spell for Veth, working together. Veth and Essek at his side, the rest of the Nein close at hand. That was the thread he grasped onto without even noticing he’d been tangled in it. And though there were moments where it nearly unraveled, the line felt tight and secure in this moment.

“Caduceus is ready to heal you again, whenever you are,” Veth said, bringing Caleb’s loving gaze back to her. “And Jester sent me a message that they’ve arrived in Nicodranas.”

As if on cue, there was a loud knock on the front door, impressive enough to be heard from all the way down the hall.

“Veth! Yeza! We’re here!” Jester’s voice came, muffled, but distinguishable. “And we brought presents! And extra healing for Caleb!”

And while Caleb would be happy to see her and the rest of his family, he glanced down at still sleeping Essek with a bit of wistfulness in his heart.

Veth rolled her eyes. “I’ll give you ten minutes to figure out what to do with him.” And then she was off to stop Jester and Beau from pounding down her door.

Carding his fingers through Essek’s short white hair, he watched as Essek blinked up lazily at him. Much like Frumpkin when someone disturbed his nap.

“What is all that noise?” Essek asked with a rather undignified yawn.

“The rest of the Mighty Nein have arrived,” Caleb said. And in the hallway he could now hear Yasha coaching Luc with his crossbow and Fjord’s subsequent yelp. “Sorry for waking you, but I do not know how you feel about them finding us in this position.”

“Oh, let them come,” Essek said, surprising Caleb by moving in closer and closing his eyes. “I am not ready to move just yet.”

With a soft chuckle, soft enough to avoid tugging at his injuries or disturbing Essek, Caleb relaxed back against his pillows. Closing his eyes, he listened to the rest of the Nein bicker in the hallway and Essek’s soft snoring, as he drifted off into the warmth and comfort of home.

**Author's Note:**

> This was partially written as an excuse to write down some of my post-adventuring Mighty Nein headcanons. In here: Fjord, Jester, Beau, and Yasha have taken to sailing, with their home base in Nicodranas. Veth and Yeza still live there and Caleb lives with them, together they all run a bookstore/alchemy shop, where Caleb also teaches magic to a few students. They have a teleportation circle linked to both the Blooming Grove for Caduceus and can always go to Roshana to visit Essek. They often get together to go on fun adventures (or take down corruption that Beau still digs up as an Expositor). And everyone lives happily ever after :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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